Lebohang Morake, the Grammy-winning South African composer who performed the iconic opening song ‘Circle of Life’ from ‘The Lion King’, has filed a lawsuit against comedian Learnmore Jonasi. The composer took this step because the comedian damaged his reputation by misrepresenting the meaning of the song in a podcast.According to a report in The Guardian, Lebohang Morake Learnmore is suing Jonas and demanding more than $20 million in damages for alleged mistranslations.The lyrics to the opening song “Nants’ingonyama bagithi Baba”, “All hail the king; before the king we bow.”According to the lawsuit filed by Morake, in an episode of the ‘One 54’ podcast, Jonasi joked that the Zulu song translates to: “Look, there’s a lion. Oh my god.” The podcast hosts burst out laughing, adding that they had always imagined it was something “more beautiful and elegant.”The lawsuit also claims that Jonasi repeated the joke during a stand-up performance in Los Angeles, where he “received a standing ovation.”According to the complaint, those viral statements are “interfering with Morak’s business relationship with Disney and its rights revenue,” resulting in more than $20 million in damages. The composer is also seeking $7 million in damages. The report added that Morake argued in the case that Jonasi presented his translation as “authoritative fact, not comedy” and therefore should not receive the First Amendment protection usually afforded to parody or satire.For now, Jonasi has not officially responded to the case. However, he has recently published a video on social networks, calling himself a “big fan” of Morake’s work. He also expressed interest in collaborating with the composer on a video explaining the true meaning of the song.“Comedy always has a way of starting a conversation,” he said, adding, “This is your chance to really educate people because now people are listening.”
